Dinner Party Fun: No Oven, No Problem
November 20th, 2011 § Leave a Comment
86 oven! #fail
About 2 hours before guests arrived to my mother’s dinner party last night, her gas range broke. The simple, delicious menu she had planned was a nimble one though, and with the manageable guest count of 10, was a success.
With her (also dying) electric oven still available, the vegetables that had been roasted earlier in the day could be tossed and re-heated in parsley sauce, made from the recipe in the MICHAEL’S GENUINE FOOD cookbook. What was to have been home-roasted garlic chicken thighs became store-roasted whole birds after a quick trip to Fresh Market. Expertly carved by brother Kevin, I swooped in with a homemade dressing of what was around the house: oranges and their juice, capers, a whole clove of smashed raw garlic, shaved wished-it-was-red white onion, lemon juice, sherry vinegar, rice wine vinegar, mixed olives, Teena’s Pride Farm CSA orange mint and fire sorrel, chaat masala, and Elizabeth’s amazing extra-virgin olive oil (Castillo de Tabernas) from Spain, to be spooned cool on top of the warm pieces of dark and white meat at plating.
Chateauneuf de Pape Millésime 2008 in our Burgundy glasses and in great company, all in all it was a fantastic meal!
Roasted winter vegetables with parsley sauce and arugula tossed with evoo, S&P and topped with shaved Cypress Grove "Midnight Moon" aged goat cheese.
Amazing peeta from a guest, with whole roast chicken and homemade orange dressing.
Bradley Ogden's Baked Persimmon Pudding with Mandarin Orange Curd.
Recipe: Elizabeth’s Apricot Tart with Lavender Honey Cream
October 17th, 2010 § Leave a Comment
Ok, it was really Patricia Well’s tart, but Elizabeth Fenjvez made it her own and baked it for our delight at my mother’s dinner party a couple of Sundays ago. Here is the recipe. As happens sometimes, busying myself in pre-meal kitchen commotion, I didn’t get there quick enough to capture the crowning moment, of lavender honey cream, every indulgent drip of it, being poured over the tarts. But I was first in line for a piece! This dessert is lovely for fall, substituting pears for stone fruits, as they aren’t in season. Thank you, Elizabeth, for sharing the recipe — you made it look easy, but we know it wasn’t that easy!! I think we’ll see if we can pull it off with as much finesse for Thanksgiving.
Elizabeth and her tarts before going in the oven.
Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands: Not a Bad Place to Work!
January 20th, 2010 § 1 Comment
Hi there. I’m back but just momentarily to post some quick snapshots of what made the first two weeks of January so gosh darn busy and unbloggable. But it was worth it! Here’s why.
The Cayman Islands have designated January its new Culinary Month, positioning under a nice, neat umbrella a few high profile food events, namely: The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman’s Cayman Cookout hosted by Eric Ripert and a food festival, booth-hopping number called Taste of Cayman at Camana Bay. Both fantastic and both attended by yours truly. The occasion? Helping to showcase the culinary talents of chef Michael Schwartz, and his partner in sweet crime, Hedy Goldsmith.
Isn’t it fun when hard work equals play, too?
For a comprehensive recap of what we made, ate, and saw during the festivities, visit the restaurant blog where I’ve posted footage of the yummy grind and the people that helped make it possible. For some postcard moments stolen amidst the hustle with my digital camera, stay glued here!
